


killing x softly

by pinkblinder



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Female Character of Color, Hisoka wanna be in the couple, Illumi's has a fabulous hair, Light Sadism, MC has a traumatic past, MC is from an assassin's family too, MC still learning what the hell is wrong, Maybe not so light, Morally Ambiguous Character, Morally Grey Character, They're assassins, a little bit domestic Illumi, but they're love birds in disguise, dark-skinned female character, hxh - Freeform, kikyo is a badass sensei, killua is the one and only sweetheart, they're adorable awkward, wife and husband dynamic, zoldyck family is a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:40:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28427937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkblinder/pseuds/pinkblinder
Summary: Illumi Zoldyck and Callisto Tizane were married at the age of seventeen and fourteen respectively just to create a bond between two famous families of assassins. As important events pass through them, desire, possession and death within their relationship means the same as love.[IllumixOC]
Relationships: Illumi Zoldyck/Original Female Character(s), Slight Gon Freecs/Killua Zoldyck
Comments: 28
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> Here I am trying to write a story with Illumi because I just couldn't resist. It's my first hxh story and english isn't my first language, so be patient with me, please xD 
> 
> My OC is very appearance-based in the Allura from Voltron and Hinata from Naruto (her eyes). I simply love dark skin characters with white hair, especially in animes and I decided to try to base her appearance on this special appreciation of mine. 
> 
> The story will have rather murder scenes maybe a little descriptive and sex (because I simp to Illumi), warning you to prepare yourselves. 
> 
> For now, that's all. I hope you enjoy the story and please point out if there is any grammar mistakes for the author to correct it >.<
> 
> Enjoy!

**CHAPTER 1**

_tacit × deal_

**I.**

Tin.

It was a nickname for Tizane.

For Illumi, it was so strange, because Tizane was her surname. Therefore, anyone from her family could be called Tin.

As an authentic egoistic person, when he thinks about another person with a family (an uncommon case because actually it's rare to Illumi think about anything that wasn't himself and his family) he thinks about some structure of people with his family model of a family. However, to Illumi's surprise, Tin's family has just an old man, a huge and silent old man who was an old friend of his grandfather and of Illumi's parents.

They carried out a mission together in the past, she was eight years old and he was ten years old. They didn't talk, she just introduced herself and he too, it was quick and clean, he only remembered because it was the cleanest mission he had ever undertaken.

The second time Illumi saw her, she wore a white kimono as if it was her funeral. Her eyes were white too, so was her short-stranded hair and her long eyelashes. The only dark thing on her was her skin, a rich brown tone highlighting all her other atypical features.

She is still tiny.

Illumi tipped his head to the side, his empty eyes blatantly evaluating the bride.

Across the room, she noticed his gaze.

Tin stared at him in the same way, bowing her head lightly, causing the strands of her hair to move forward like a heavy seed.

Illumi had bitten a rose petal once, just pure childish curiosity, he remembered the velvety and soft texture between his teeth and how that texture was destroyed fast. He also remembered the curiosity of knowing what the taste of something that wasn't supposed to be eaten.

He has this same curiosity at that moment.

She was only thirteen years old when her lips touched the edge of the sakazuki cup, Illumi was only sixteen when he participated in the ceremony as a guest. The groom was normal and rich, but still didn't justify what a family of assassins probably richer than that man were to give their heiress so easily.

Why is she marrying an insignificant worm like that man?

"Her mother killed her younger sister. Tin-chan killed her mother for revenge and set fire to the Tizane family's main residence." His grandfather answered at his side, reading his grandson's void expression. "Ginaro liked her daughter enough to punish Tin-chan with a marriage where she loses her right as a heiress to her husband. Really a waste."

For some reason unknown even to himself, Illumi's lips separated and in his mind arose a fact to which he never gave much importance.

It was a tacit deal between assassin families.

Kill the groom, be the groom.

That happened to his grandfather and his grandmother, fighting to the death to marry her in place of his less talented rival.

Whenever he told this story, the next sentence at the end was always the same:

_Her family wanted her to marry a weak worm, for a formidable killer like her was **really a waste**._

Zeno kept his eyes closed like a snake, but Illumi knew how to identify every quietness of his grandfather.

There wasn't even a gasping when Illumi's needle went through the groom's skull, splashing blood on Tin's face and kimono while her hand held the sakazuki still in the air.

Her pearling ghostly eyes meet his dark and obfuscated eyes, as the deepest cavity of hell and the most blinding light meet each other for the first time. She timidly put the cup down, the whiteness didn't let others see the glow of subtle shyness behind her iris, as if someone had told her a sudden compliment.

From the beginning of his existence, it was the first time Illumi thought about the concept of marriage.

**II**. 

Tin's first name is Callisto, he discovered later and he also finally understood why everyone called her Tin. Callisto simply didn't seem to fit with her appearance.

Illumi wanted to test her skills, his mother commented about how Tin's dead mother was an excellent assassin and explained how wasn't sure if the girl inherited the mother's talent while Illumi's father was neutral about the situation because he knew how it would end anyway.

There was a dinner for both families to form the agreement, Tin remaining silent and solemn in the same way she was in her failed marriage. They were left alone only for a few minutes by their respective guardians, Illumi took his mouth to the edge of the glass in an attempt to taste the wine.

He always considered owls splendid animals, their wings had a beating so silent that the prey didn't know of their arrival until they were trapped in their claws. That fact about owls always left Illumi puzzled, so he adopted a method as silent as an Owl, death coming so softly that it could hardly be noticed.

Illumi didn't know if his fiancée knew about owls, but the noiseless way she attacked was quite comparable. Her small foot coated with a tabi used the table as an impulse to get around, she drew the katana from inside the kimono from behind as if it were part of her spine and if Illumi was much slower, less trained and less smart, her katana blade would have decapitated him in perfect precision.

She was too slow, but her perception was good, she knew the right time when to act and her movements were not sloppy.

Moreover, her zetsu was almost perfect.

She was quiet, smooth and soft.

Like an Owl.

Illumi was jealous of comparing her to his favorite animal when he was the only one to want that glory. However, at the same time, he saw her potential.

He felt a strange anxiety in his stomach, as when his bloodlust manifested itself, but there was no malignant aura in the room.

Her eyes didn't lose the savagery, it was possible even with their white Iris, the opaque showing the threat to him. Like a foxbear cub.

The corner of Illumi's mouth bowed very minimally.

III.

The second time she visited him, they fought.

Her leg exposed through the opening of the kimono when she stopped advancing lowering into attack position, giving up before any other onslaught of him hit her lethally.

Illumi gave her a gift, an all white kanzashi, including the camelia on the hair pin top, all the material polished, although the tip was sharp enough to cross an eye or a throat.

"Stunning" She breathed holding it like a dagger, her hand was small to the point of the object appearing large when she held it, she took her hand to lips as if she had said something wrong. "It's made of bone, isn't it? I can feel the remaining nen."

Her eyelids fell and she looked at the object with a cold admiration.

"Yes," Illumi confirmed walking and stopping in front of Tin, more interested in her reaction. "I asked them to preserve the cuts, the craftsman knows how to choose his corpses well."

She traced her fingers through the material that one day had been inside someone's body. The way her lips tightened showed a trace of shyness.

"Gifts are exchanged only on the day of the ceremony."

Illumi pointed to the hair ornament on her hand.

"Huh? This isn't a wedding present."

She looked at the ornament and then at him, Tin wide her pearly eyes.

"So why are you presenting me?"

His empty eyes stepped on without revealing any intention.

"Why wouldn't I?"

She shrugged, looking at him with genuine curiosity.

"Zoldyck-san certainly has a good taste for rare objects." Her voice was almost a whisper, much like an echo behind a wall, Illumi considered an interesting choice of words while still observing her. "Thank you very much, it's a lovely gift."

Two days later, she sent him a katana, the same one which she had tried to cut him once. Carved flowers in the katana's tsuka and its saya, Illumi had never been interested in swords before, but that elegant silver-bladed thing was fascinating.

He kept the katana because it reminded him of Tin's eyes.

**IV**.

The sake tasted sweet that day even if it wasn't, Illumi combed his hair back obeying the request of his mother and the hakama didn't was as uncomfortable as he supposed. Unlike the day he last saw Tin dressed as a bride, her lips were painted with scarlet and the bone ornament fit into her hair strands, holding them in a delicate hairstyle.

When she sat in front of Illumi at the apex of the ceremony, he knew how to use his excellent self-control so he couldn't look down on her painted lips.

They were sitting side by side at the table, when she leaned elegantly to stop near his shoulder, Illumi looked down to take sight of her white lashes blinking slowly.

"Zoldyck-san looks very gracious tonight" She whispered and stopped, she avoided eye contact, he could perceive her hands trembling resting in her lap "With hair combed like this, it makes your eyes look like black holes, attracting everything around. It's beautiful."

Tin again leaned against the chair, staring ahead looking too affected by her words, she made everything she said sound like a sin. Illumi only managed to stare at her, probably it would be considered rude if they weren't in the middle of assassins, his wide-eyed eyes didn't match with his stoic face while he saw no reason to look away from her.

He drank the wine that a servant put in the glass, if he was not immune to poison, he would say he had been poisoned. The feeling bubbling in his stomach, an anxiety that reminded him much of bloodlust, but it wasn't.

Illumi came to the conclusion that since Tin was always there when it happened, it should be because of her.

* * *

**Glossary:**

****

**Tsuka: The tsuka is the handle of the Japanese sword.**

****

**Saya: The word Saya refers to the Sheath or Scabbard that the warrior uses to keep the sword. (https://katanasforsale.com/saya/)**

****

**Sakazuki: Sakazuki are ceremonial cups used most commonly at weddings and other special occasions such as tea ceremonies, but larger versions of sakazuki also exist. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sake_set#Drinking_cups)**

****

**Kanzashi: Kanzashi ([簪](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%B0%AA#Japanese)) are hair ornaments used in traditional [Japanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan) [hairstyles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihongami). The term "kanzashi" refers to a wide variety of accessories, including long, rigid hairpins, barrettes, fabric flowers and fabric hair ties. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzashi)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tin observes her new relatives.

**CHAPTER 2**

_no x difference_

  
  
  
  
  


**I.**

_Callisto_. 

That was the name given to her by her mother. 

_Tin_. 

That was the name her little sister always called her. 

_Zoldyck_. 

That was her husband's last name, and now, too, hers. 

  
  
  


**II**.

Her husband was like a complex shogi move, his empty eyes didn't express his intentions until he practiced it. When Tin first met him, his ebony hair and the way he was logical in his choices caught her eye. 

He was pragmatic. 

His needles hit the target and death was immediate. Tin was jealous, her cuts were clean, but she would never be so quick.

For a few years, she didn't think about it again until the day Illumi Zoldyck killed her future husband and took the title of the deceased as a groom. 

When the blood sneezed, she knew that death was his way of claiming her; Tin also knew enough about strategies to see how the Zoldyck family was digging their way into an alliance. 

His eyes were devastating, two black holes evaluating the entire atmosphere around, evaluating her. 

Tin was still terribly _enchanted_. 

  
  


**III**. 

When she got married, she met the other family members she had not met before, she silently collected her impressions of each of them.

Milluki was desperate for his parents' favor, he knew about Tin's mother's closeness to his own mother. 

"Are you blind?" It was the first thing he said to her and his tone was demanding, Tin showed no expression, just her lips were softly curved while she was sitting at the table, she should still earn their respect.

"No, Milluki-san. It's just a genetic anomaly that affects the color of the iris."

He snorted with derision. 

"It's so creepy!"

He wasn't particularly cruel, but Tin noted how he repressed more comments in order to please his parents. He had sharp emotions and he knew the common sense of morality enough to try to run to the opposite of it, that's how he read his family. 

Silva, Kikyo and Zeno knew this aspect of him, so they ignored his childish behavior. 

Tin decided to try to do the same. 

The second was Kalluto, he was too young, but for it was also very lovely. Tin's sister was three years younger than her and because she remembers how to take care of her little sister, it was easy to play with the little boy. 

The living glow of childhood was easily found in the eyes of Kalluto, he hadn't started his training yet and look at him was to see a kind of light that Tin believed she would never see again. 

"Look, look what I found, Onee-chan!"

In the small playground on the nearby of the Zoldyck residence, Kalluto raised the blue stone that he founds in the sand, with his childish fascination of finding even the simplest things amazing. 

"Oh! That's beautiful, Kallu-kun." Tin's kind voice praised and joining the palms in front of the chest, her first sincere smile in so many months reaching up to her eyes. 

As Tin watched little Kalluto coming down from the slide, she noticed the presence of some of the butlers around, their aura was noticeable even though they were so well hidden and she certainly wouldn't notice them if she wasn't the former heiress of her family. 

She maintained her posture, considering how even living in someone else's house, if the owner was an assassin, there's no difference at all. 

_Yes_ , she thought while looked at sky and the grayed clouds above her, _she shouldn't expect anything different._

Tin also thought how it would be to see the innocence disappear gradually from Kalluto's pretty eyes. 

Just like happened with her sister. 

She unfortunately didn't see young Killua in that week, Tin only saw him in the wedding ceremony. 

Her husband's younger brother blue eyes were as sharp as the blade of a katana when he didn't even want to look in her direction and he seemed indifferent to the event. 

Tin remembered one thing more clearly than any other aspect, though. 

There wasn't innocence in his eyes anymore. 

He'll probably be very strong when he grew up. 

  
  


**IV**.

  
  


At the back of the huge residence Zoldyck, a small residence was built, the porch was large enough and its floor was covered with wood, the stone garden in front made the house looked like a temple, Tin admired the view sat in her calves and drinking tea, the breeze swept her short hair and she smiled calmly noticing the fine silhouette of the person standing next to her. 

"It's a pleasure to receive your presence, Kikyo-donno."

The woman sat next to her stealthily and the two remained in equal postures. 

"You're just too much like your mother" The woman said when she first spoke, Tin just heard, realizing that she wasn't finished. "I always thought I'd kill her first." 

Tin took another sip of tea. 

"I apologize for taking away your honor." 

The woman opened the fan and placed it in front of her lips. 

"Kanna was talented, she was ruthless. The last time we worked together, all I could think about was provoking her until she agreed to fight." Kikyo closed the fan, squeezing it with pale and thin fingers. "Did she suffer?" 

"I used an old swordfighter technique, she suffocated with her own aura while trying to use her nen." Tin explained, her voice was sugary, a balmy whisper. 

She remembered her mother's eyes, red and wild, filled with anger. 

Kikyo's shrill laughter sounds fatal like her son's needles. 

"Oh, that's a treat. I would love to see you contribute to our family, Tin-chan dear," Her tone hardened as she said the next words. "Prove your value."

Tin's first mission representing the Zoldyck family was with her mother-in-law in Zaban City, she used the same technique that her mother used to kill her sister and the same technique she used to kill her own mother. The target was a nen user, the battle was isolated and the man was executed by the woman and the girl in a hotel room. 

Just like her own mother, there was no other word for Kikyo but _ruthless_. 

Just like Tin's mother. 

"To whom does this technique belong?" She asked when they both got into the car, while Tin's kimono had damage to the hem, Kikyo's was as flawless as when they arrived. 

"My great-grandmother, Kikyo-donno."

"Hm, you're good with the katana, but you're still slow. Your great-grandmother's technique is good and you dominate it, but it's not yours." The woman explained looking at the scenery beyond the glass window. "You're a Zoldyck now, your method has to be nothing but perfect. Tomorrow, we'll start to do it." 

The woman's rosy lips smiled in the precarious light, a horrible smile. 

Tin closed her eyes and bowed her head, respectfully. 

"Hai, Kikyo-donno."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> If you can, comment and give your opinion on the story, it leaves the heart of this author very happy \o/
> 
> As you can read, Kikyo will have an active participation in Tin's life.
> 
> Even though she barely has a scene in the manga and anime, she must be an exceptional killer to have joined in the Zoldyck family and I want to explore those aspects of her in this story. I really want her and Tin to have a master-student relationship, let's just say Tin's mother was Kikyo's Hisoka xD
> 
> Daring to make more comparations, Tin is Illumi's Gon, what means that he's interested in her future potential, and because of it, he agreed with the marriage.
> 
> bye-bye~


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Illumi tries to figure out his own intentions.

**CHAPTER 3**

_nothing x more_

I. 

He and his wife didn't have a night after the wedding, they were too young to share a room (Although they weren't young enough to kill, which was somewhat funny for Illumi). 

She slept in one of several rooms while the butlers built the small place where they would both live in the back of the Zoldyck residence. 

When Illumi returned, their house was builded and she waited for him sitting on the porch, her pearl eyes rose to see him and she was sitting on her own calves, her little hands resting on her lap, Illumi accompanied the timid construction of her smile. 

"Tadaima." He took off the shoes to step on the wooden floor. 

"Okaerinasai, Illumi-donno."

She no longer called him _Zoldyck-san_ , but his status as husband still didn't seem to have been conquered. 

His keen eyes saw the darker marks than her skin, recognizable scars covering her hands. Illumi put his hands inside his pockets, looking down with his eyelids half open to Tin more tired figure. 

She could barely continue in the same position. 

_Exhausted_ , exactly like him after an intense training time with his mother. 

Her skin looked darker, probably due to her exposure to sunlight showing that his wife and his mother had been busy, maybe in somewhere sunny on Kukuroo mountain.

He thought it was pretty, her white eyes looked like the lights of a reflector.

"You're training with my mother." He spoke at last, it wasn't his best sentence, but Illumi wasn't very good at dealing with women until he had to kill them.

"Yes. The training method of the Zoldyck family and the Tizane family is not so different" She said and stared at him with her white eyes, her mouth tight in a line before she went back to talking. "Your way of fighting is similar to that of your mother, Illumi-donno."

"Ah," He agreed, lowering next to her, leaning his elbow over his thigh and chin on his raised hand. "I was trained by her"

"It is unusual, the older son is usually trained by his father," Tin commented, her curious and big eyes seemed to ask for a story behind his speech, he closed his eyes briefly, wondering what he would say. 

"I dunno. My mother has her own way of doing things." 

What about your mother?

That would be the natural way to conduct the conversation, but Illumi interrupted himself before verbalizing. 

"Illumi-donno, are you too tired?" 

He raised an eyebrow. 

"No. Why is that?" 

She stood, Illumi trusted her own vision to claim that she saw the glow of fun go through her eyes. 

"Fight with me. Allow me to show you what I've learned."

It was Illumi's first time seeing that lively facet of her, part of him wanted to attack and appease her will. 

He stood up resting his hands on his thighs and put his hands in his pockets, advancing towards her calmly, Tin prepared herself, her body change was minimal, Tin's white eyelashes almost teamed with each other and her eyes attentive. 

Illumi, however, just kept walking. 

"Maybe later, it won't be fun if you fall asleep in the middle of your performance." He said, feeling her look on his back. 

"Wait, Illumi-donn—"

" _Later_."

**II**. 

"There's a client that solicited you for next week."

Illumi raised his head, staring at Silva Zoldyck's intimidating figure. Leaning against the wall, Illumi put his hands inside his jacket's pockets and the black strands of his short hair covering his forehead. 

"A new client?" 

"A former Tizane family client." 

"Hn, I suppose it's because of my little wife." Illumi concluded, narrowing his eyes, intrigued. 

"Exactly. Her mother and grandfather have a reputation in the black market." Silva confirmed, looking at Illumi firmly. "She was a good transaction, after all."

A transaction. 

Illumi always knew from the beginning how that marriage was about acquiring success for his family.

It was just business, a convenience. 

Nothing more. 

For a moment, he almost believed in that marriage as something he chose. 

Weird. 

"She's allowed to go on missions, too, at the right time." 

It wasn't like she couldn't. As a nen user, heiress to her family, the girl who learned her great-grandmother's secret technique alone. 

A swordfighter. 

Kill hadn't yet reached his full potential, but he was already doing missions too. 

Illumi shouldn't expect less from his wife, because she wasn't only his wife, at the end of the day. 

"Let me take her to the next job." Illumi suggested looking stoic enough for his intention seemed unfathomable. 

An apathetic and very discreet smile arose on his father's face. 

"Do as you please, as long as you finish the job."

Illumi gave his father an empty look, turning his back to leave the room. 

"Sure."

**III**. 

Kikyo jumped towards her, the blades of the swords crying as they faced each other, Tin tried to push the katana in order to gain space, but it was impossible, Kikyo was unbeatable. 

Tin's face was covered in small scratches because of the training, her arms had bruises and it was possible to see the purple color sticking out on her terracotta skin. The new blow hit her hard in the face and her feet dragged her back on the ground, she did not fall, but was turned away, which for every assassin was still a dangerous thing. 

She spun her fist expertly, her eyes still and concentrated on her mother-in-law, the katana spun with her movement and despite the object being heavy, she wielded it with ease due to years of training within the Tizane family. Tin flexed her knee and ran towards Kikyo, her silent feet didn't even make a single noise on the ground, the katana blade shone under the sun and Tin shook her in the direction of Illumi's mother. 

The sword blow cut the air when Kikyo disappeared from the front of the katana cut, she emerged behind Tin, kicking her back hard and the girl leaned on the sword, using the katana's tsuka to spin and trying to hit the mother-in-law with a kick. 

Kikyo was not hit, but reappeared from the side and the blow hit Tin's head, causing her to fall to her knees. 

The woman, though it was impossible to see her eyes, stood in front of her pupil with nothing but severity. 

"What's missing, Tin-chan?" 

Tin breathed panting, her chest down and up with effort, she raised her head to look at her mother-in-law. 

"I'm not studying the situation around me, I'm busier trying to win than hitting my target." She told her, Tin's hoarse voice and her eyes barely reaching to open with weariness. 

"What else is missing?" 

"I'm still not fast enough." 

"Hands." 

In the distance, Illumi saw his mother's leather whip hit Tin's palms hard, her hands trembled at every beat reaching her skin, but she remained quiet despite a slight contraction in between her eyebrows. 

His mother didn't put any distance between the training he gave him and the training he was giving Tin. The fact that the girl seemed so used to it only showed how similar their mothers were. 

Would he kill your mother if he had to? 

Illumi realized at that instant, that just as he had been with his wife, he would have no problem killing his mother. 

His head leaned to one side a little, his mouth tight in a line. 

It was useless to think of the possibility since he would have no need to kill his mother, Kikyo was different from Kanna, she was too self-centered to kill her children whom she had so much trouble in shaping. 

But what if she did it with the same thing one day, if she hurt one of his brothers? What would happen if she went crazy like Kanna Tizane? 

What if she hurt Kill? 

Illumi's eyes widened and he faced his bare hands, a dense burning in his body from the inside. 

In the distance, Tin looked in the direction he was, though she seemed not to see him. 

He didn't even notice the intention to kill exhaling him before seeing her doing that. 

What an interesting discovery, the one he made that day. 

The day he sympathizes with his wife's decision. 

**IV.**

"Are you afraid?" He asked her whispering in her ear, she smelled of lavender and petricolor. 

At his side, she denied shaking her head. 

"No," She passed her tongue through her lips, Illumi looked at the action coming down his eyelids, Tin stared at him almost with humor. "It's not my first time in this situation, Illumi-donno." 

He knew, but it didn't look like that.

Sometimes, though Illumi called her his wife in his mind, he forgot that Tin wasn't like one of his brothers. 

She was more like him. 

Both were born as the first children of their families. 

But dressed in a pleated skirt, ¾ socks and a large sweater, she looked more close of her age. Without the kimono and her hair stuck, she looked like a fourteen-year-old little girl. 

Tin was a fourteen-year-old little girl. 

And him, a seventeen old boy, felt too old and dangerous to be married to her. 

In normal clothes she looked frail. 

The house was full, it was a party full of people traveling around the mansion. Illumi walked straight ahead, passing by the people with Tin on his trail, they went up the stairs unnoticed, it was difficult to feel the presence even for people who had no knowledge about zetsu. 

As he turned the hall, Illumi simply put his hand on the door handle, and the security guards of the house came to stop him, as expected. 

The muscular man wearing a suit put his hand on Tin's wrist, Illumi's needles were quick to deformed the man's face in milliseconds. Another man tried to attack him from behind, Tin struck the man with her ankle while Illumi strayed from the blow. The security guard pulled the gun and pointed toward her, but The girl grabbed the barrel of the gun and swerved from the shot, taking the gun out of the man's hand she threw him over her own body to the ground and hit him with two shots to the head without hesitation. 

She turned to Illumi.

"Do you want me to come in with you, Illumi-donno?"

Illumi blinked, raised his hand and wiped the blood spatter from her cheek. 

"Wait for me here." 

She nodded slowly and smiled, adorable and immaculate. 

On the way to complete his job, Illumi sighed. 

His wife wasn't frail, but the fact that someone touching her was unpleasant even though she defended herself afterwards. 

"W-Wait, who… Who are you?" 

Illumi threw the needles, killing the target. 

He supported the hand at the waist and looked at the ceiling, he was thinking too much and didn't like it very much. 

Illumi didn't know what to think about how she made him feel. 

He also didn't know if he liked to feel. 

* * *

**Glossary** :

**Tadaima** : (只今) literally means, “just now,” as in “I've just come home now.” When returning home, people say this as they announce their arrival usually as they open the door or step into the home. _(gogonihon)_

**Okaerinasai** : (おかえりなさい) is a Japanese greeting on returning home. _(wikipedia)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killua meets her brother's wife and Tin reflects about death.

**CHAPTER 4.**

_living x dead_

**I**.

She took a deep breath. 

It was morning and she turned on the king bed, she didn't know if her husband was at home because they slept in separate rooms. 

Illumi was always very busy with the job, he took most of the missions because he was the most requested son, Killua was also quite requested by his grandfather, but was still in training, Milluki hadn't yet demonstrated enough skill and Kalluto was very young. 

Tin missed him for the first time. 

The wind shook the window flaps, but the clarity of the sun invading the room gave indications that it would be a sunny day. 

Tin decided to plant roses. 

**II**. 

She put her fingers in the ground, the reddish dirt was malleable and the seed cined into the hole. Tin wiped her face with the back of her hand, the sound of small steps and the feeling of an aura left her shoulders tense. 

"What are you doing?" 

Tin looked over her shoulder to see the little boy, wild white hair and cute clothes. 

"Planting roses."

"Why?" 

"I don't know. Roses smell good." 

"Flowers are idiots. They're a lot of work and they're useless." The little boy said and put his hands behind his neck. "How old are you?"

"I'm fourteen years old, Killua-kun." Tin stood up, taking the rubber gloves off her hands. "What about you, Killua-kun?" 

"How old am I?" He pointed at himself and Tin nodded. "I'm nine."

"Oh, I see. Killua-kun is already a man, so." Tin smiled kindly, Killua blushed turning his face to the side. 

"Are you Aniki's wife, right?" He asked, looking at her from the corner of the eye. 

"I am." 

"You are my Aneki, then?"

"Do you want me to be?" Tin asked, finding every reaction of him cute, he shrugged. "I can be your Aneki, if you want."

Killua put his hands in his pockets, pouting. 

"Really?" He murmured softly, looking shyly. 

"Of course. Does Killua-kun like cake?" 

"What question is that? Everybody likes cake!" He grumbled by putting his hands in the pockets of the shorts. 

"Come eat a slice then, I made for Illumi-donno, but I don't think he's coming back today."

"Aniki is an idiot." Killua spoke and started to walk behind Tin, the older girl put her hand on her lips to avoid laughter. 

He was really adorable. 

**III**. 

Killua found her brother's wife very weird when he first saw her. 

She had white eyes.

Killua has never met anyone with white eyes before. 

They were scary to him at first. 

He saw her for the second time training with his mother. 

She almost struck his mother twice, and his mother seemed serious enough. 

She was scary. 

He wasn't very interested in who would be part of the family or not, his mother told him had to bond because now she was also family now. 

Killua ate the piece of cake that she made, and it tasted only like cake, it was awkward to eat unpoisoned food. 

On the other side of the table, she ate a piece of cake too. She pulled out a piece of the fork with her lips and smiled at Killua while chewing. 

She smiled a lot, it was so weird. 

"Killua-kun, is the cake tasting good?" 

It was that moment when she said she was poisoned with some kind of new poison that had no taste? 

"H-Hm" Killua agreed to lower the look at the plate. 

"Do you want another slice of it?" That girl seemed too young to be a wife, she looked like someone that Killua would invite to play with, if he could. "Maybe tea?" 

Killua didn't like tea, but the tea from his older brother's house was different. 

"What is it?" 

"Oh, it's bubble tea, Killua-kun. It's good, isn't it?" 

Killua didn't respond, he just sipped his tea through a straw (something he had never done before). 

She took Killua's glass and plate, then asked him if he could dry the dishes he had used and she had washed. Killua did it, he noticed that his Aniki's house doesn't have any butlers, his Aneki did everything alone, even cleaning the place. 

Killua looked at her, she was keeping the pie in the fridge and still wearing an apron and a pastel blue dress, her hair was stuck with a ponytail, like those normal moms of the television.

Killua's cheeks were warm when she caught him staring, she just smiled again. 

She smiled a lot. 

His brother's wife with her ghostly eyes was acceptable. 

(She was still a little scary, though). 

**IV**. 

Tin was thrown to kill a friend from her grandfather. 

Marco Matsumoto, a man to whom Tin owed for his kindness. When Kanna Tizane went mad because of her bloodlust, Marco offered shelter to Tin and her sister. 

Obviously, the Tizane family would never leave their heiress with a man outside the family, but Tin didn't forget that. 

"There are no shortcuts on the path to loyalty."

That's what Kikyo told her, the black kimono made her even darker and the way she didn't turn her face in Tin's direction showed how much she didn't believe in her ability to fulfill what was proposed. 

Or not, probably not. 

Kikyo didn't really care if she could or wouldn't. Sometimes Tin believed that without that thing covering her mother-in-law's eyes, she would see a pair of black holes in her face, exactly like Illumi. 

It wasn't easy, or difficult, it was the feeling of being in a limbo. 

It was like killing an already dead body. 

Marco was gathered in his cottage, in a wheelchair and so old that wrinkles were cruel, it was taking all the man's features for itself. 

"Tin-chan, isn't it?" He recognized, somehow, Tin received the information about his blindness, despites surprised, she didn't react to it. "I remember the smell of everyone I met. Tin-chan and the youngest, Calypso, had the smell of petricolor."

Tin just heard, the arms inside the fabric of the kimono sleeves. She just observed the fall of a man, and she was his shinigami. 

"I never thought I'd die at the hands of such a gentle child," The man kept saying, his voice was hoarse and faint, leaving gradually. "I don't think anyone really knows how they are going to die, do they, Tin-chan? Death isn't something expected, not until she actually arrives."

She didn't know. 

Tin didn't know anything about death, she didn't think about it. 

Death was an order, Tin just delivered it, there was no need to open the package now. 

She wouldn't know until she finally got her's. 

In the form of thanks for his kindness, Tin brings him death through a painless poison. 

At the end of the day, while cooking, she just waited for her husband. 

* * *

**Glossary** :

**Aneki** : Most of the time it refers to one's real older sister. Biological, or maybe adopted. But sometimes it can refer to a girl whom the speaker respects and considers to be like an older sister to them. (japanesewithanime)

_**author note**_ :. _Aneki is also a counterparty of the word Aniki (that means older brother and is how Killua calls Illumi in the cannon) it's why I choose Aneki as how Killua will call Tin_. 

**Shinigami** : (死神, "Grim Reaper", "death bringer" or "death spirit") are gods or supernatural spirits that invite humans toward death in certain aspects of Japanese religion and culture. Shinigami have been described as monsters, helpers, and creatures of darkness. Shinigami are used for tales and religions in Japanese culture. (wiki) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave your comment and make this author really happy <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Illumi eats normal food for the first time and reflects on his wife's actions.

**CHAPTER 5**

_ordinary x admiration_

**I**.

She _cooked_. 

Illumi tasted the food with the suspicion that it would feel the hidden taste of some poison, but no. 

It was just food, like the common food that ordinary people eat. 

Illumi never ate the food of ordinary people, but he ate the foods that were served in his house. 

None of it had that flavor. 

But her food was… 

He raised his chin, watching her put water in his glass. 

"What is this?" He asked, analyzing her movements, seeking her intentions with cold eyes and immutable expression. 

He didn't really understand her behavior and the way she seemed receptive. 

She stopped beside the table, holding the jar with her head tilted to the side. 

"Hm? Gyoza."

"Why?" 

She thought for a second. 

"Because it's delicious," Tin pressed her lips, looking curious. "Illumi-donno doesn't like Gyoza?" 

"I've never eaten these." He poked the dough with the hashi. 

Tin placed the jar of water on the table and sat on the other side, placing a plate in front of her and putting two of the contents inside the pan on her plate. 

Illumi persistently stared at her. 

Finally, she looked at him and smiled, as she always does, randomly and at all the time. 

"Why did you do it?" He asked while still staring at her. 

"Why wouldn't I?" She simply said with the same tone he did back then. 

Illumi, before he was old enough to start his training, felt cold once.

He had a fever and remembered the symptoms of the only disease he suffered in his life clearly. When Illumi covered himself to appease the cold of the fever, he felt an extreme sense of satisfaction that he never thought of feeling out of his sick state. 

He raised the pair of hashi and chewed the gyoza as he tried to understand why her act was exactly like the feeling of covering himself when he had a fever.

**II**. 

"Aniki, Aneki is very weird." Kill said to him, his eyes closed and his hand inside the short's pockets. 

"Aneki?" Illumi was curious, Kill shrank. 

"Your wife." His little brother murmured. 

_Aneki_. 

Kill called her _Aneki_. 

Something unknown moved within Illumi. 

"For sure she is." 

**III**. 

"Do you want butlers?"

She was in the living room, sitting on the wooden floor holding wool and knitting needles. 

Tin looked at him. 

"Do you want them?" 

IIumi sat on the sofa, leaning his arm on the sofa's arm and putting his cheek on his raised hand. 

"I don't have an opinion on that. They do things in your place and then you don't have to do it." 

She stopped knitting. 

"If Illumi-donno doesn't have an opinion about it, can I reject it?"

"Ah, you can do everything as you please." He spoke the lie easily. 

She didn't correct him. 

"Hmm, I like to take care of the house by myself," She just responds by turning her previous task with her quick fingers intertwining the wool strings with the needles. 

The movement caught Illumi's attention, there was something he liked about seeing her fingers moving skillfully. He didn't think much about hands, but Tin's were pretty, her nails were well cut despite the long shape and the scars made it look intriguing somehow. 

Illumi slid his tongue between his lips slowly. 

"What are you sewing?" He asked after some time, both in the same position and in the same silence, but didn't seem tedious in any way. 

"A sweater. The weather is changing and Illumi-donno will leave for other jobs soon, isn't it?" 

"Yes. But what's the relation between your sweater and me?" He questioned raising his eyebrows, genuinely not understanding. 

She put her hand on her lips and gave a brief giggle. 

"It's not my sweater, Illumi-donno, it's yours." Her voice was still trembling and humorous when she revealed it. "I think I'm going to sew a secret pocket for your needles in it."

"Uhm… but why?" 

She blinked. 

"Illumi-donno doesn't want needlepockets?" 

Illumi frowned. 

"Yes, I do. What I wanna know is why are you doing this for me. Do you want anything?" 

"Illumi-donno is my family," She said as if it were obvious, her voice always sounded like sweet, honey in the form of words. "I don't want my family to get cold."

_Family_. 

She'd do that just because he was family? 

Is that how _she saw_ _him_? 

Signing papers and living together was enough? _That_ easy? 

He only watched her knitting till nightfall. 

**IV**. 

"Your hair grew." 

He didn't know why he said that, it sounded stupid after he said it. Tin seemed not to share his opinion; she just wrapped the tip of her white hair on her index finger. 

"Yes," Tin stated the obvious. "Maybe I should cut again."

"I like it that way," He said and took from her hand the dish she had just washed, he took the cloth off her shoulder, he began to dry the plate in a circular and robotic movement. "Your eyes look bigger."

"Oh, I understand. Maybe Illumi-donno could let his hair grow too?" She began to wash a glass, smiling while doing it with some concentration. "I think it would look really beautiful."

She was very close to him, almost touched his arm, perhaps closer than any other day before that day. They were side-by-side dividing the common household chore and he still liked to observe her hands. 

"Sure."

He wanted to touch her hands. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which, Tin sees her husband's beauty in the little things about him.

**CHAPTER 6**

_warm x debt_

  
  


**I**.

"Provoking the arrogance of the enemy is inciting his attack, and when he attacks angrily, he loses his ability and to think logically," Kikyo taught her, Tin was struggling to continue standing and there were cuts on her legs, her breathing was heavy and she was exhausted. "If you attack with arrogance, you won't be able to see the battle as it is and you'll lose, just as it happened now."

Tin searched for her sword in the snow, but she was submerged inside the ice around them.

"Reflect on your actions outside today." Kikyo told her, the echo of her voice was distant in the apprentice's weary ears.

She fell to the ground, the dried blood of her hands full of scratches forming stains the whiteness of the snow. Tin saw her master's silhouette drift away until she disappeared.

She lay on the snow, noticing the sword just a few inches away from her.

Tin was tired, her bruised body was exhausted by the cold and her house seemed very far away at that moment.

When the blizzard began to fall in the Kokoroo mountain, she just closed her eyes.

**II.**

It was warm, somehow.

Tin opened her eyes to see only darkness, but she felt something around her shoulders and the sensation of something soft touching her forehead.

The smell of dirt was everywhere.

"Mother is intense, isn't she?"

An emotionless voice pondered out of nowhere.

"Illumi-donno?" She asked when she heard his murmur in the dark, Tin's voice was hoarse and hardly came out of her weak vocal cords.

"Yes?"

Tin knew that if she was less worn out and if your body didn't hurt so much, she'd be all hot with embarrassment.

They were pressed on each other to the point that his arms were around her shoulders, holding her in a forced embrace.

"Are we in a hole under the ground?" She managed to ask afterwards what seemed a few minutes, maybe it was less, but Tin couldn't keep up with the time in that position.

"Yes."

Tin would smile, if she could.

  
  


**III**.

  
  
  


She waited for him.

It was late and it was cold, she was sitting on the sofa in the living room.

Every time the door creaks with the wind, Tin looks at the entrance with expectation.

Consequently, she ended up sleeping, she was worn out with last week's workouts and sleep was becoming a constant part within her routine. 

Tin woke up later, landed her feet on the ground and stared at the door again. Illumi hadn't come back yet? What kind of punishment did he receive?

He shouldn't…

 _No_.

Tin wouldn't dishonor her husband's attitude.

She got up and walked down the aisle, the snow fell on the side of the window and she stared outside, pulling over the blanket over her shoulders.

Tin walked to the bathroom door and opened it, she immediately regretted it.

She saw a lot of bare skin, more than she would like to see, the tearful expression appeared on her face and she turned to the exit quickly.

He was on his back and about to enter the tub, Tin's hands trembled.

"It's occupied," He warned too late, monotonously.

Tin took the doorknob and was about to go, but she looked at the floor seeing the traces of blood in it. She recalled, too, out of her embarrassment, from Illumi's back full of deep scratches.

She came out of her former state, of shame and surprise, to ask firmly.

"Illumi-donno, Can I clean and bandage your wounds?"

Tin stared down the hall, the door was open and she could just walk out. She could not go out and leave him there, with his wounds inside a bathtub with pain and blood.

He was probably used to it and she should also be, they grew up being exposed to the punishment of turning against the will of their families. If Tin were in Illumi's place, if she were punished for pulling him out of the blizzard, she wouldn't mind the punishment or the wounds.

He probably didn't care.

But Tin didn't like it.

She didn't like her husband's skin bleeding and bruising, she didn't like it.

Illumi didn't answer, but Tin's hearing heard him submerge in the water. She sighed and turned in her act of courage, watching him sitting in the tub, staring at her.

"You don't owe me." He said lowering his head,Tin shrunk the sleeves of her kimono.

She wet the white tissue that was inside one of the bathroom drawers, and stared at Illumi's injured back. Gently, Tin began her work of taking dry the blood carefully because she doesn't want to aggravate his wounds.

"I know."

  
  
  
  


**IV**.

  
  
  


His hair had grown, she noticed, as they walked down the street.

When he jumped from the bridge to the ground, the black strands of his hair rose and landed on his shoulders.

In the alley of a partially bustling avenue even at night, he stood in front of her, his eyes focused on the target. The burly man entered the sophisticated restaurant with a girl who seemed just a little older than Tin.

She liked the way he seemed focused on his duty, how he sneaked between the streets, jumped from buildings and as he looked over his shoulder even though he knew she was following him.

The ends of her husband's longer hairs swept his shoulders when the night breeze passed between them.

He was so _pretty_.

The thought made Tin's cheeks warm up.

She raised her hand to touch his hair, but he held her little hand between his long fingers before she could reach.

"What is it?" He asked her staring, though his face was stoic, there was the slight evidence of his eyelids widening.

"Your hair grew," She whispered to him, feeling the squeeze soften.

The way he shook her hand caused a strange sensation in Tin's stomach.

"Oh."

He leaned his head rigidly and put her hand on top of the dark threads. As rigid as he is, Tin softly touched his head twice.

"Can we go now?" He even asked with his head bowed toward her, Tin could see his neck because the heavy locks had divided exposing it when he lowered his head.

Tin nodded, pulling her hands and squeezing them in fist.

Killing was easier than usual with her mind stuck in the sensation of his hair texture on her hand.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Illumi has the confirmation he needed about Killua's abilities and needs even more of something he already owns.

**CHAPTER 7**

_blooming x wanting_

**I**. 

"Taijutsu is so important in the routine of an assassin mainly because there will be times when we will not be able to access weapons to help the fulfillment of our jobs," Tin spoke in the middle of the forest, and although Illumi was present and close to her, it wasn't with him with whom she directed her speech. 

Someone looking from the outside who didn't use nen wouldn't see the little figures hidden among the trees. 

Kalluto and Killua were very well hidden, but they were not yet entirely immune as expected from developing children. 

Illumi stood with his arms folded, quietly observing the training of his younger brothers. When Zeno proposed about Tin training the boys with Taijutsu, Illumi's mother didn't think it was a good idea. 

"A child is not suitable for training other children." She said, her voice had an instability behind the rigid tone. 

Everyone realized she was just being vanity, but she also wouldn't owe Zeno's orders. 

"Illumi's marriage was intended to acquire a new facet for our family. What good is it if we don't benefit from his wife's abilities?" 

No one would owe the truth. 

"I'm waiting for you, Kill-kun, Kallu-kun," His wife declared with her sweet voice, the smile reaching up to the corner of her eyes seemed like a provocation. "Come to me."

Her voice was firm, soft, but assertive. 

Illumi stared at her. 

So this is how she looked in battle? 

He wanted to see her fighting seriously, how she reacted to an enemy, if she provoked them too, with that voice, he really wanted to see it. 

The palms of his hands tingle. 

Kalluto was the first to appear, he tried to invade Tin's space, but she disappeared from his attack. Popping up behind him and stroking his hair gently. 

"Amazing, Kallu-kun. But don't hesitate, there's no reason to be afraid of something that hasn't happened yet." She advised and jumped like a bird landing in the same place as before. 

Kalluto seemed dissatisfied, but impressed. 

_Yes_ , Illumi knew how his little brother was feeling. 

Killua came from behind, quiet and focused, Illumi saw the exact moment he set out to attack his wife with cold eyes and injected with instinct. 

Tin swerved easily from the attack, Killua landed in front of her with her hands holding her knees before putting her hands behind the nape of her neck. 

"I already knew I'd lost it, Aneki is great," He complained relaxedly, but pouting. 

Tin exchanged a look with Illumi, he raised an eyebrow subtly, the closed smile of hers said a lot.

"Kill-kun, you're always marvelous, but time is the key to a successful attack. Be patient, right?" She corrected him, always too gentle and too sweet. 

Illumi noticed how it was more effective with Kill. 

The boy's cheeks turned red with the compliment, he looked away. 

"Hm, I'll get it right next time."

Tin stroked the two children's hair, Kalluto hugged her leg and Killua didn't react, but didn't seem to want to get out of the way either. 

**II**. 

Her hair was long now, Illumi noticed the white strands reaching the middle of her back. 

She held them back like a samurai. 

Tin was cleaning the floor of the house, the fringe of the front of her hair had also grown, only wild locks were falling down her face. 

She passed the back of her hand by her forehead, and Illumi finally approached holding the bucket with water and handing him. 

She thanked, both in the delivery of the hallway outside the house, she squeezed the fabric and lowered herself, Illumi repeated her gesture by putting herself next to her and taking the same position. 

They ran holding the fabric against the floor to the end of the hall and then returned doing the same thing. 

The two were leaning against the outside of the house, Illumi had his trousers rolled up above his ankles and his feet were far from the ground, swinging in the air because of the porch's height. 

"Tin," He called her, staring into the corner of his eyes while the girl had her eyes closed. 

"Yes, Illumi-donno?" She opened her eyes, though the white spheres remained fixed in the stone garden. 

"Kill," Illumi joined his eyebrows. "You have an impression about him too, don't you?" 

"Why do you ask me, Illumi-donno?" 

"There's a good chance that I give my biased opinion on this issue." He revealed to her earnestly, pressing lips, not too pleased with the very conclusion. 

"Ah, but Illumi-donno is always like that when it's about Kill-kun, isn't it?" He stared at her without denying, finding the sly face of his young wife. "Well, it's quite lovely, in my vision." 

Illumi let the air out of his nose with a little force, discouraged to reveal more about his favoritism with his younger brother. 

"What do you think, Callisto?" 

He noticed how her shoulders strained when he called her by her first name, it was natural and left without major complications through Illumi's mouth because he didn't like her nickname. His wife shuddered, Illumi's eyes wandered through the shape of her small body wincing in her own space for a short thousandth of a time. 

"I… I will try not to give my biased opinion too, I will always hope for the best for you, who is my husband," He noticed the rosy very hidden behind the brown cheeks like cinnamon. "But I am also a member of the Zoldyck family now, I am proud to say that Kill-kun has already surpassed us, Illumi-donno. I believe neither of us had the innate ability of Kill-kun at his age." 

"Hmm, then I must speak to my father, I already knew that Kill would be the best choice," Illumi nodded briefly, holding his chin between his thumb and the pointed, pensive. "And being the heir doesn't interest me."

"I understand."

She bowed her head, smiling. 

"What about you, Callisto?" Her smile faltered at the mention of the name again, but continued to keep it. "Don't you reprove my choice? Our children might won't be heirs either." 

She cought his eye again. 

She was so, so demure, so obedient, so _sweet_. 

So _sweet_ that _he almost tasted the honey_ just being in her presence. 

"There's no point in putting the family name in your hands if you don't want to fight for it, Illumi-donno. Undeniably, Kill-kun will be a good leader and if we help him, we will be helping the family too." She tilted her head forward, stirring the strands of her white hair. "If it's enough for you, so is for me too."

Illumi pressed his jaw, his teeth pressing each other, his mouth salivating and that sensation scratching his bowels. 

The way his wife, Tin, tiny, strong and lovable. 

A smart little thing. 

"I want to touch your skin."

His voice was gloomy, a dead, emotionless echo, with bored eyes and half-open eyelids. 

"Right." She whispered. 

So he did it. 

His hand took her right hand, her hand looked smaller when it was stuck between his fingers. He brushed his finger on the soft skin, his fingers ran through hers, the index touching her index finger, his held in the middle of her fingers slowly. 

They remain holding hands sitting on the porch for the rest of the afternoon. 

**III**. 

"This is surprisingly effective," Illumi declared really surprised after holding his hair with the kanzashi. 

"Hm? Oh, yes. Illumi-donno had never stucked his hair with one of these?" 

"Or with any other like that."

"Then how you did it?" 

Illumi let his hair down and held it again pushing the needle in the head. Tin looked at him with a serious expression, Illumi just looked at her confused, without understanding the reaction.

"Illumi-donno, I think it's better to use the kanzashi, _ne_?" 

Illumi just nodded. 

"Hum."

**IV**. 

Her index finger traced the blade, her mouth half-closed and her eyes excited. 

"It seems to have been hard to find." She held the handle of the knife, handling it carefully. 

Illumi watched her lower her head, he put his hands inside his pockets. 

"Someone who hired my services paid me with that knife." 

She looked bemused and evaluated the weapon. 

"But it's yours." 

"It's yours. I'm your husband, I can give you gifts if I want to." Illumi's voice was monotonous, but there was a typical authority of an order. 

Manipulating and commanding was part of his skills as a nen user precisely because of his personality. He liked to be in control, and Tin simply gave him all the control. 

For someone used to manipulating to achieve, someone so selfless with their own desires was interesting. 

She just kept him that way, interested, every day and night. When he left and came back, Illumi remained at that stage without boredom, with a mind full of thoughts about _her, her, her._

"I accept, if it is a gift from Illumi-donno, it is valuable."

In an unexpected move to Illumi, she took his hand and planted a kiss on his palm. The boy's body tensioned, his eyes wide.

She let him go quickly, letting go of his fingers from her hand. 

Illumi pressed his hand in a fist as if trying to possess the sensation of her lips in his palm. 

He stared at her when she turned to go, watching her walk through the door, watching her walk away. 

Illumi still stared her. 

He decided that she would never get too far away. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tin is surprised by a certain attitude of her husband and take pleasure in his unpredictability.

**CHAPTER 8**

_passionate x power_

**I.**

It was the first time something like this had happened.

She rolled into the king size bed alone, her body almost reaching unconsciousness, her white hair spread across the pillow and her chest up and down following quiet breathing. 

She opened her eyes as she listened to the door of the creaking room, sounds of constant footsteps made her sit slowly and lazily. 

Tin had sleepy eyes, messy hair and clumped pajamas. 

She achieved the slim silhouette in the darkness, the shadow caused by the precarious light coming from the window showed the casual clothes. It looked like he wore the sweater she had made, the trousers he wore did not reach his ankles. 

Tin smiled at the sight of him, Illumi continued standing in the middle of the room, looking fixed towards her. 

"Was it tiring today?" She asked softly, but he didn't answer. 

He approached, walking slowly in silent footsteps. Illumi sat on the edge of the bed, Tin moved her head to the side, her hair following the motion and her face still looking sleepy. 

His body approached her, he was still in silence, Illumi's big hand touched her neck, his thumb stroking her skin. Tin remained with her gaze fixed on his, she sighed with satisfaction and leaned toward his hand. 

Illumi united his eyebrows as he stared at her, it was a small expression that he sometimes made and it was pretty in some way, his cheeks were a little more protruding and his lips were just pressed, he resembled his younger brothers when he did it. 

His arms slipped down her waist, slowly lying on the bed and pulling her with him. His leg was between hers and he hugged her by the waist, sank his face into her collarbone, he squeezed her into his arms and Tin struggled with the instinct to get mortified by the intimate movement. 

She was feeling his muscles pressing on her belly. He was so attached to her that Tin's pajama pants were pulled for it. The fabric was tight against her thighs, because his legs were everywhere, holding her in that embrace. 

His hands were possessive on her back, Illumi's fingers digging the fabric of her shirt. 

"Is everything all right?" She asked, putting her hand tenderly on his head and stroking the black strands of his hair. 

The sound of his voice revered in his chest, they were so united that Tin felt the sound passing through her too. 

His breath was getting tenderer, calmer. 

Tin smiled at the relaxed expression of him, his torn eyes closed, pink and full lips in contact with her brown skin in an obvious contrast to his pale body. 

Tin kept stroking his hair until finally sleeping too. 

**II**. 

Tin got up first the next day. 

She made a simple breakfast, bacon and eggs, tea and put some cookies she made the day before on the table. 

Her husband passed through the arch of the kitchen door in the same crumpled clothes of the day before. His look looked tired and his hair was messy; he pulled out a chair and sat down. 

" _Ohayo_ ," He said simply, blinking his big torn eyes. "You got up early, Calli."

Well, it was hard to predict what her husband would do next, hearing him call her _Calli_ made her happy and somehow most like part of the family.

She didn't try to hide her smile by putting a cup in front of him on the table. 

"Illumi-donno looked tired yesterday, I wanted to make something for you to eat. Illumi-donno have to recover your energies," She poured the tea into her cup, feeling his look in her hands as she did it. "Was yesterday's job very tiring?" 

"No. It is never something tiring at all." He stirred the tea into the cup with the spoon, making a constant noise. 

"Uhm, Uhm," Tin agreed, already accepting his answer, sitting at the table too. 

"You ask that because I went to your room last night?" 

She stared at him, her mouth half-closed, the shape of her white eyes were pulled like those of a cat. Illumi had no expression, but Tin could perceive the provocative tone of it behind the hollow echo of his voice. 

"Illumi-donno is my husband. You can visit me whatever you want, you can touch me whatever you want," Tin declared, noticing his eyebrows rising, she smiles. "Isn't that the way it is?"

His eyelids widened. 

"Oh, I understand. So if I want to, can I sleep in the same bed as my wife every night?" He seemed to wonder with a joyful tone that doesn't match with his expressionless face features, beating his fist over his palm as if he had a great idea. "If I have your consent, that means it should be enough, doesn't it, Calli?" 

Her hand trembled slightly as she remembered the night before, as he pulled her close by pressing her against his thigh, as his large hands of long fingers shook her waist. 

The breath of him on her skin, the pressure of his chest while he was holding her so firmly. 

"If my husband wishes for it, that's how it's going to be." She answered politely, nodding. 

"And does my wife wish for it?" He raised his chin, the atmosphere getting dense, his black eyes were cloudy. 

A storm behind his iris, although the stillness showed no agitation. 

Her husband was so _powerful_. 

He was so powerful that his aura was like a pressure, pushing her body, taking over the place. 

Tin felt that hot agitation enveloping her bowels, the heat rising as if she were cooking her alive. 

"I wish for it." She whispered at the end, lowering her head to try to hide her shyness, her cheeks warming. 

" _Wonderful_ , then," He declared succinctly, beginning to drink the contents of the cup. 

**III**. 

"Thank you for the help, Gotoh-san. I really didn't think I could go find that kind of frame." Tin smiled, joining her hands. She and the butler were still in front of the main wall of the house behind the Zoldyck residence. 

In the painting there was the image of a young couple. A short-haired girl wearing a wedding kimono and a tall boy behind her seated figure, wearing a groom's traditional clothes. 

"No need to thank you, I must assist you in whatever you need, Callisto-sama."

She tried not to feel the discomfort of being called by the name her mother gave her, keeping the serene expression. 

"I'd rather thank you, I wouldn't be arrogant enough not to notice how you keep everything in perfect order. I hope I didn't upset you with my claims not to have a butler, not as if I didn't recognize your effort." She concluded, kindly. 

"Don't worry about it, Callisto-sama. We understood perfectly, "Gotoh bowed in a brief reverence. 

"Do you know where Kill-kun is, Gotoh-san?" Tin asked, it's been a week since she saw the little boy and she understood what kind of implications could have caused his absence.

"Killua-sama is at the Heaven's Arena, Callisto-sama."

Tin understood, testing his skills was important and Killua needed a possibly fatal victim, someone outside the family. 

"Oh, I see."

**IV**. 

Kikyo drunks the tea, the bitterness of the herb seems doesn't affect her at all.

Tin waited for her instructions at the moment.

"There are sixteen, all users of Nen. The value is high enough and will be all yours, there was no preference for any family member this time." Kikyo explained. "You will have to be quick, and if my teachings have not reached you, you will die."

No as cold as her words were, there was no hidden emotion, no desire for Tin to fail or complete the work successfully. 

There was nothing. 

"I'll be back in less than a day, Kikyo-donno." Tin stood up and bowed respectfully. " _Ittekimassu_." 

"Hm," The woman muttered, her most malicious body language this time, eerily similar to Illumi. " _Itterasshai_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tin and Illumi are 15 and 18 years old respectively in this chapter, so their interaction is getting more intense (although it was before, right). We're getting closer to the cannon events! I'm excited, I have many ideas and well, Hisoka will appear soon too :D
> 
> Do not leave without comment, no shyness okay? I love to know about your opinion about the work, it makes me very happy indeed. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Illumi sees his wife and partner in crime having a brief conversation, he also hears her questioning the validity of the marriage.

**CHAPTER 9**

_alternate x choices_

**I**. 

"Nothing seems more fun, the days pass so fast that I can hardly keep up with the little challenges scattered through it. I end up having to hunt challenges around, looking for some kind of more satisfying experience than just seeing people walking around a room. "

He stirred the ice cube into the glass, the expression of obvious boredom on his face. 

"Does it seem like some rare kind of greed, maybe greed for something that gives you a purpose?" Tin filled his glass with whiskey. 

"A kind of greed? Hmm… I never saw it in that way. Is that how I look in the eyes of a stranger?" 

"I just have a good read about people based on what I see."

"What do you see? And what do you see about me, little girl?"

"I see something very deep that you are hiding with your superficially, your clothes smells blood, your aura smells blood. But you don't smell like death."

"Really? Disappointing. I've always considered myself someone close to death enough to have a little bit of the smell of it."

"You are not death, you are the one who brings death," She flashed her white eyes, staring at the dripping gold of the ores of the strange. "I know, I've seen so many bringers of death."

"Hn, such an interesting analysis, Mrs…? Can you tell me what you're called?"

"Tin, sir."

"No, I don't like the way that sounds. Call me Hisoka, It's a better option."

"Such a common name for such an unusual figure," She smiled softly and he imitated her, through her eyes his pulled eyes are full of maliciousness. "Sorry to call you something you didn't like, Hisoka-san."

He put his slender finger under her chin, his candy smell was nauseating. 

"You're talented enough to entertain me, holding my company doesn't happen often. Are you an oiran?"

"I appreciate your compliment, Hisoka-san. But I would need to be paler to be an oiran, though your opinion flatters me."

"Such a shame, I was so willing to take you with me."

She laughed briefly. 

"I'm sorry about that, Hisoka-san. Despite working in this establishment these days, I'm married." 

Tin was about to lean over to ask the waiter for another bottle of whiskey, when the image of several men dressed in suits entered through the door of the host nightclub. 

"Oh, trouble in sight?" The magician whom she had just met asked beside her. 

She gave him a reassuring smile. 

"I'm very sorry, Hisoka-san, I lied." She told the truth that he probably already knew, the way he didn't shake his eyes in confirmation was enough for Tin knew it. 

"I'm frustrated, I planned to hurt you to the brink of death and take you out of here." He shrugged, and looked at her in the corner. "Or can I still do that?" 

"I believe Hisoka-san would have done it by now if he really wanted to." Tin said it and got up. 

He gave a smile of recognition. 

"Who knows?" 

"I hope we can see each other on another occasion."

She bent over and followed the men passing to the other side of the hall. 

Illumi joined him only afterwards, when widespread confusion formed inside the nightclub. Screams and blood dripping across the floor, no one really knew who had been responsible for the sixteen deaths and local authorities did not believe it was a calamity carried out by one person. 

They certainly wouldn't believe that the person responsible wore a ribbon lace in her hair and is a 1,51cm tall teenager. 

"Your wife is a cute little thing." He commented to the other, his hand under his chin and his elbow resting on the same table where he sat with Tin a few minutes before. "Don't worry so much, Illu. It's not like I'm going to kill her here."

"If you wanted to kill her, she'd know." Illumi said simply, sitting next to Hisoka. 

"Ah ~ I see. And your wife... Are aware of our agreement?" 

"Maybe she knows, she wouldn't say unless I asked. Or maybe she wouldn't say, I don't know" He leaned against the couch, his mouth tight in a line, thinking about white hair and brown skin, her kindly smile while Hisoka talks about his boredom, so distant from the appearance of an assassin. 

"All this drama makes me feel like a forbidden lover," Hisoka's malicious smile attained Illumi's vision. 

"You're not going to stop fantasizing, anyway." Illumi stared at him from the corner of his eye. 

"It is indeed."

**II**. 

Illumi's comfort concepts were constantly scrambled after he began sleeping in the same bed as his wife. 

For example, sleeping without her in bed became a difficult task. When they were both home at the same time, she always lay down later, but also always came back smelling of roses over her natural lavender scent. 

Her skin also got softer, Illumi didn't quite understand about the products she was using, but it should be some kind of cream by the way she rubbed her hands as she walked to bed. 

When she lay down, Illumi immediately turned his back. Tin rose a little further from the point where he was on the mattress to accommodate him in her arms, Illumi blinked to the darkness and lowered his chin, he should sleep any time now, it was easy to sleep when she held him like this. 

Illumi shrank feeling her nose on the back of his hair. 

He wondered if it was possible to fuse with a person to the point of never letting that person get away. 

He wanted her to hold him forever.

"Your friend is funny," She murmured with her lips muffled by his hair. 

Ah. 

She knew. 

"He's unpredictable," Illumi warned her, his voice as low as hers. "If possible, I want you to stay away from him."

"Alright, Illumi-donno," Tin accepted. "He seems to respect you."

"Perhaps," Illumi remembered that puzzled look in the eyes of Hisoka. "Our agreement only lasts as long as I and him have benefits. It's a give and take relationship."

"Isn't all relationships like this?" Her voice whispered. "Sounds almost like a marriage to me."

"It 's cannot be. I'm already married," Illumi debated not understanding her point. 

"Perhaps it would be different if you had no obligation, if we were not obliged to be married." 

There was no resentment in her voice, there was nothing there but what seemed to be an internal reflection of herself. 

"Calli, can you do that thing with my hair?" 

"Hm? That thing?" 

"Yes, when you stroke your hand against it."

She does it, her hand was so gentle, running through his hair up below his shoulders. 

"Sometimes I forget it was an arranged marriage. Sometimes when you do it with your hand on my head or cook those things that I never heard about before, I forgot about it," His voice was placid, emotionless, very different from his words. "That doesn't bother me." 

Her arms tightened more around him, he felt her put her face on his shoulder blade. 

"Does that bother you?" Illumi asked, moving his head a little in her direction. 

Her voice was too tender when she answered him. 

"No, it doesn't bother me."

**III**. 

"Aren't you going to sleep?" 

Illumi looked at her. 

He was lying on the floor of the room staring at the ceiling, it was almost three o'clock in the morning, at least that was the time on the wall clock. 

"I can't sleep."

"Do you want some tea? Maybe something like chamomile." 

She had her voice dragged and there was a quilt on her shoulders like a cape, covering her. 

She was funny like that.

"No, I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight." 

"I understand."

Tin lay next to him on the floor, Illumi accompanied her all along, watching her lie awkwardly. In the end, she was covered with the quilt, lying on her side to look at him. 

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to leave my unconscious body here by your side to keep you company." 

" _Oh_." Illumi realized, then he stared back at the ceiling. "All right, then."

**IV**. 

"A year? But that's a lot of time for a job."

It was the first time he saw her complain about something, Illumi stared at her, sitting on the porch holding a cup of tea. 

"I'll call you and when I get back, I can bring you something you want."

She shook hands in front of her body and looked away. Her expression didn't seem angry, but the coexistence gave Illumi the signs that she was not satisfied with the situation. 

"That's a long time, isn't it?" 

"It has to be done," Illumi declared, staring at her over his shoulder. "Calli."

"Yes, Illumi-donno?" 

"Sit with me."

She didn't do so immediately, staring at him with white eyes, two bright lanterns full of confusion and hesitation. 

"Should I pick you up there?" Illumi bowed his head, questioning her. She shook her hands, her little fingers contracted, she pouted. 

"Illumi-donno, we have to talk about it more calmly. Maybe I can go too? With you?"

"Calli, sit here with me." Illumi hit the empty seat next to his twice. 

She finally came, squeezing the fabric of the kimono in her lap as she sat. 

"Only I was asked for this job, taking more than one member is not necessary." He explained facing the stone garden in front of the house. "Do you want me to bring you something?" 

"No… No... I'm… Just… just going to miss you."

Illumi stared at her, ecstatic. 

The breeze brought the long locks of her white hair, spreading the smell of rain around. 

Sometimes he wondered if it wasn't made up of a special kind of aura, a specific nen power to leave him captive to her. He was the worst kind of prisoner, he didn't want to leave his prison. 

"Calli, just wait."

_I'm going to get back to this sweet prison as soon as possible._

She smiled. 

Tin put her hand on his as he leaned over and grazed her lips on his cheek. Illumi remained motionless, rigid, frozen of appreciation. 

His skin got chilled, but it was good. 

"I'll wait." She whispered without getting too far away and they faced each other from a very near distance. 

Illumi leaned a little to touch her forehead with his, she giggled beautifully. 

**Glossary** :

_**Oiran**_ (花魁): **oiran was a specific category of high ranking courtesan in Japanese history. Divided into a number of ranks within this category, oiran were considered – both in social terms and in the entertainment they provided – to be above common prostitutes, known as yūjo (遊女) (lit. 'woman of pleasure') _(wiki)_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Is that all right? Passing to thank the comments and kudos of the last chapter! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please don't forget to comment! What did you think of Hisoka's appearance? I believe he and Illumi have known each other for a considerable time, long-standing partners.
> 
> We see Tin questioning reality too, right? What if she wasn't married to Illumi? (Well, we know who would be married to him hehe) 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it! Leave your kudo and/or your comment, give a little bit of love to this fanfic! <3


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